The first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine are expected to arrive in Indiana next week. During Wednesday’s COVID-19 briefing, Indiana Department of Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Lindsay Weaver said an FDA subcommittee is expected to approve the Pfizer vaccine Thursday, clearing the way for an emergency use authorization and shipment to the states. “This is incredibly exciting news because it signals the beginning of the end of this pandemic,” Weaver said.
It will first go to five hospitals around the state, and then to a total of 50 hospitals by the end of next week. The first round will go to frontline health care workers, not just doctors and nurses, but anyone who comes into contact with patients. Weaver said about 400,000 people would meet the criteria, but the initial allocation will only be 55,575 doses. While health officials expect more to come every week, they don’t know how much yet.
Vaccination will probably be limited to health care workers and long-term care facility residents until January. The next phase would likely include essential workers or vulnerable populations.
Here’s how the vaccine works: Weaver said that while other types of shots involve exposing the body to a weakened form of a virus, the initial COVID-19 vaccines take a different approach. “They teach your cells how to make a harmless protein called the spike protein that is found on the surface of the virus that causes COVID-19,” Weaver explained. “This protein then triggers an immune response inside our bodies. That immune response produces antibodies to protect us from getting infected if the real virus enters our bodies.”
Weaver said the vaccine can’t give someone COVID-19 and doesn’t interact with a person’s DNA. She added that while the virus is new, researchers have been working on this type of vaccine for decades. Those who’ve already had COVID-19 will be encouraged to get the vaccine, but Weaver said they may be asked to wait until it’s more widely available, especially if they’ve had the disease in the last 90 days.
Governor Holcomb noted that while the initial allocation isn’t enough, he’s happy that a vaccine will be available so soon after the pandemic began. “The fact that we’re even talking about a vaccine into this week or next week is a modern medical miracle,” Holcomb said. “I mean, I checked to see just how long it took for other vaccines to be developed, approved, and deployed, and it’s four years for mumps and seven years for polio and nine years for measles and 34 years for chickenpox.”
State Health Commissioner Dr. Kris Box said that while the end of the pandemic is in sight, we still likely have to get through another six months. “The vaccine gives us the way forward to reclaiming the lives that we feel like we’ve lost,” she said. “But we still have to cross that bridge of time to get there, a bridge built on mask wearing, hand washing, social distancing, and, yes, limiting our [holiday] celebrations to prevent the spread of this disease, so that we can have many more years together to celebrate.”
It still remains to be seen how long the vaccine’s protection will last. Weaver said Moderna has reported that its study participants have continued to show an antibody response three months after the second dose, and immunity will likely last longer.
